Welcome to gozarks portal into the past,
present and future of life as we know it.... researched, observed, intuited
and empirically experienced from an isolated nook in a semi-rural cranny of
The Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.

On January 28, I died. Heck of a way to start off the New Year, but
hey... you know me... I'll do anything to get attention! And if you are
as yet unaware of the details,
that story is here.

In the here and now of life moving forward, the 61 days (at the time of
this writing) since my resurrection have been educationally interesting,
physically exhausting, emotionally challenging, financially depressing
and socially entertaining. Quite a mix of brilliant highs and merciless
lows, taking stock of all that has come to pass and what is now to be
done.

One item I was recently able to complete on my somewhat tenuous to-do
list came to fruition last Tuesday when I felt sufficiently good to
drive myself the (roughly) 200 miles to and from Little Rock -- which
had never been a big deal in my past but which, subsequent to my demise,
I simply did not feel competent to do until now).

On that journey I was able to personally thank
Senator Jon Woods (aka: the guy who CPR'd me) and Corporal John
Wattof the Arkansas Capitol Police (aka: the guy who
defibrillated me).

Beyond that, nothing much is new and exciting, except to note that April
of 2015 marks Gozarks 15th anniversary of continual publication.

Wow... what a lot of water under the bridge since then.

One other thing worthy of mention, my youngest darling daughter has
started a new business venture <smile> called
Shaundeliwhich, just so you know, has nothing to do with food
per se but lots to do with selling unique gifts, decorating oddities,
select clothing, pretty house plants and other interesting stuff a la
garage-sale style... and the debut of which is Saturday, April 4, 9am to
4pm CDT and the first Saturday of each month (and by appointment)
thereafter.

Thus until next time, when I shall most like have more interesting news
to share... may all of your days be meaningful,
productive, comfortable, relaxed, joyous and filled with good cheer...
now and forevermore... (((hugs))) ~
christine@gozarks.com

In accordance with the covenants, liberties and
duties vested in 'we the people' by the founders of our nation in
their signing of these great documents:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,"
that we are each "endowed with
certain unalienable Rights" which no man, agency,
legislated policy or judicial due process has the authority to
interdict or revoke and which, in fact, it is the 'duty' of the
'majority' to safeguard, preserve, secure and defend on behalf of
ALL the PEOPLE...

Aka: NOT just the ones we 'like'...

Being a 'true American...' Taking a stand
for Liberty & Justice... Fighting the good fight... Rising to the
cause...

All of it, in terms of the standards that 'we the
people' are to hold ourselves accountable to, boils down to this one
point:

As the standard-bearers of the 'justice for
all' banner, it is our duty to 'defend' the rights of each
individual to be whoever they choose to be, so long as their conduct
is peaceful and does no harm.

And we have s profound duty to discriminate
between what constitutes legitimate harm -and- and what we
(personally) may find morally abhorrent because to secure the
blessing of liberty for all, Lady Justice *must* be 'blind' to all
such prejudicial belief, respectful of those 'imbued rights' of each
individual to peacefully assemble with whosoever they wish and
pursue any sort of conduct that leaves others free from harm and
makes them happy.

~ ~ ~

As some of you already know but most of are just learning now
<smile>, friend and professional colleague Robert Kim Combs and I
have founded a new publication...!!!

Called Help YourSelf, the moniker is indeed a double
entendre, grounded in the overarching purpose of the publication: to convey
useful information about various community resources and programs
that empower folks to "help themselves" with knowledge and
become productive members of a thriving community.

FYI: 15,000 copies of this 24-pg full color newspaper are now in
distribution distributed throughout Pulaski
County, Arkansas... and our next print edition is being assembled to
hit the streets sometime in May or June... depending in part on my
continuing good health.

Think these
things always: that it is our
duty as thinking beings with the ever-present capacity to choose to
abide the 'highest law of reality' -- doing unto others as we would
have them do unto us --
with the unified purpose of making things good for everyone,
everywhere, all of the time.

No
matter what else life is or isn't about, the single connecting
thread of all experience and action is 'thinking'.

Like the
elephant in the middle of the room that nobody ever talks about,
what we think (and what we think about what we think) is our point
of power in guiding the ongoing dynamics of our own unique and
individually independent experience of life.

Discover
this innovative 'thinking technology'. Get more of the results you
want and need, utilize resources most efficiently, compound
beneficial outcomes, enhance OTJ performance and enjoy more quality
time for leisure.

No
gimmicks... no fees <smile>... just straight-forward scientific
info, widely known and understood throughout the
behavior-sciences, lovingly shared (in plain language sans
psycho-babble) to empower your clarity and amplify your happiness
with your own quality of life.

~ ~ ~

If you
want more of what you've already got, do more of what you're already
doing...

The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that
surround him... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions
to himself...
Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable
man. ~George Bernard Shaw

~ ~ ~

You never
change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something,
build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.~Buckminster
Fuller

March 2015: What a joy and a blessing to have
my youngest lad home during my initial recuperation early in
February. Huge thanks and much appreciation is extended to his Navy
commanders for permitting his visit. And just for the record, his
official rank and designation now is Interior Communications
Electrician Petty Officer 2nd Class Enlisted Surface Warfare
Specialist... IC2(SW) for short. Love you son... May your sailing
forever be smooth, easy and happily exciting... (((hugs))).

November 2014: Navy life is intense, ie: duty
shifts that start at 6am on Friday and last until 2am Saturday
morning; rigorous training and tough exams... Back in August, he
sent a pic of himself with a 'new shiny thing' proudly pinned on his
chest which he explained is an ESWS (Enlisted Surface Warfare
Specialist) qualification that he earned. And, while I am so proud
of his continual achievements, I sincerely hope that he never has to
put this skill-set to use...

May 2014: Not much is new... work moves along
in preparation for participation in operational exercises coming up
'soon'... the exact dates of which are not released for public (or
family) consumption with respect to maintaining security. Resultant
of this, our plans for a 'family reunion' this summer are 'on
hold'... pending some clue as to our sailor-man's availability...

February 2014: My son reports that the Navy
has been keeping him and all of his crew-mates busy since the
mid-November incident (see below), and that everything is going
well. He did manage to get a few days leave and visited with his
sisters in Florida, where they had a blast skydiving. What a
hoot...!!!

November 2013: Yes, my sailor-lad is part of
the crew on the ship that
made international news mid-November when it was
broadsided by a 'rogue drone'. Thankfully, he was not one of the
injured crewmen... And my heart goes out to the young men who were
injured and their families. Though I am told that everyone is now
okay, to be brutally honest I'm not.

August 2013: Text messages (which are my Navy
son's preferred means of communication) apprise that he is
recovering from (minor, planned) surgery and is doing just fine. Yea...!!! Also that Navy life goes well and that the new
truck he got is great. Things are ever changing yet always the same
<smile>. He is happy... and that is what really counts.

Mom's Day 2013: What a joy to hear his voice.
Things have been busy, schedules intense, duties demanding... and he
is doing just fine, on his way to the beach with buddies... "Will
you go swimming?" I ask. "M0OOOM..." he wails in disbelief of
my ignorance... "The water is only 50 degrees... it's waaaaay too cold
for swimming....!!!"

March 2013: Another sweet-surprise visit from
my sailor-son. Yummy... and bitter-sweet. Makes me miss him all the
more.

January 2013: Yes, my sailor-man made it home
to celebrate the New Year... and his visit (though common knowledge
amongst his siblings) was a total surprise to me... Wow, did we have
a good time. And now that he has returned to base, well... I started
missing him before we left the airport.

December 2012: Long days and way too much to
do, says my Navy son. Eat, sleep and work is the total routine. What
keeps you so busy, I ask. Everything electrical, he says...

August 2012: Phone chats reveal that all is
well with my Navy son, though the days are long, often exhausting,
and life is sometimes 'boring'. In the main, he is enjoying what he
is doing, actually now getting a sense of 'doing' moreso than
'learning how to do'...

He spoke with excitement and dignity about having
resolved an issue with some type of amplified shipboard broadcast
device. I could tell that he was proud of this accomplishment, which
made me even more proud of him.

May 2012: A marksmanship test score of 228 to
240 = "Expert" status in the Navy. My IC3 writes:

"I got a 231 with the 9mm."

January 2012:
"I have an update for you, I was frocked today. The
Commanding Officer and Command Master Chief of my ship pinned on my
E-4 insignia so I am officially a 3rd class petty officer instead of ICFN. I am addressed as IC3 which is a lot easier to say every time
I have to answer the phone (lol). I will send you a pic of what the
insignia looks like. It is will be displayed on all of my uniforms
after I have them all updated when we get back to land. Any way it's
hard to believe how long Iíve been in, the time has really flown
by."

He enlisted over 3 years ago on the delayed
entry program, spent months in training to prepare for bootcamp from
which he graduated late in October 2010 and is now stationed aboard
the USS Chancellorsville with the homeport of San Diego, California.

My son is one heck of a great kid and
I love him with all of my heart, just like I love all my children,
be they near or be they far...

The Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser
USS Chancellorsville (CG-62)
~ ~ ~Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things
you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off your bowlines.
Sail away from safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore, Dream, Discover. ~Mark Twain~

~ ~ ~

Peace
abounds when fighting ends...

~ celebrating professionalism
in service
~

That you may be filled
with strength and power, rooted and grounded in love that surpasses all
knowledge: Be kind to one another; live with compassion, producing every
kind of goodness; stand firm and hold your ground in truth, righteousness
and peace; be courageous; embrace faith which is perfect trust in justice.
~Ephesians 3-6 (condensed)